Follow up

Sickness absence

[Policy]

Acas guidance: getting the coronavirus vaccine for work

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Vaccine-related sickness absence

Vaccine side effects. The evidence seems to indicate that younger people are in general suffering from more extreme or prolonged vaccine side effects than the older generations, which may be due to their stronger immune systems. For most people, the side effects are mild and last no more than a day or two, but for a few people they are more severe. In addition to a sore arm at the injection site, the side effects can include excessive tiredness, a headache, aching joints, a high temperature and feeling or being sick. This may result in the employee taking time off work as sickness absence if they’re too ill to work, even from home.

Sick leave. If the employee is unable to work due to vaccine side effects, they would be entitled to take sick leave under the terms of your sickness absence policy in the normal way (see Follow up ).

Sick pay. Statutory sick pay (SSP) would not generally be payable for vaccine-related sickness absence since the total period of incapacity is unlikely to be more than three days. Although SSP must be paid from the first day of absence in coronavirus cases, rather than after the usual three waiting days, this doesn’t include cases relating to vaccine side effects. Likewise, if the employee is off sick long enough to qualify for SSP, you can’t reclaim from the government, under the Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme, the cost of providing up to two weeks’ SSP where their absence was vaccine related.

Pro advice. Subject to what your employment contracts say and whether you operate a contractual sick pay scheme, it’s up to you whether you want to pay full sick pay for vaccine-related sickness absence. However, Acas guidance (see Follow up ) recommends that to encourage staff to get the vaccine you might wish to consider: (1) paying staff their usual rate of pay if they’re off sick with vaccine side effects; and/or (2) not counting vaccine-related absence in absence records, and adjusting any trigger levels in attendance procedures so that this type of short-term absence doesn’t count towards the trigger.

Sickness absence policy

Acas guidance: getting the coronavirus vaccine for work